3.2: External Liaison and Scrutiny

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We value transparency and accountability

In 2011-12, the Department, through its Audit and Fraud Control unit, worked with the Australian National Audit Office, and provided responses to proposed audit findings and recommendations prior to the Auditor-General presenting his reports in Parliament.

The Department also liaised with the Commonwealth Ombudsman on complaints relating to aspects of the Department’s administrative activities.

Information on the Auditor-General’s reports and the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s complaints is set out below.

Australian National Audit Office

In 2011-12, the Australian National Audit Office tabled several reports in Parliament on audits involving the Department. Included were audits specific to the Department, cross-agency audits where the Department was involved and other audits where the Department was not directly involved but where recommendations were targeted at all agencies.

Audits Specific to the Department

• Administration of the Health and Hospitals Fund (Audit Report No.45 of 2011-12, tabled 20 June 2012).

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department’s administration in supporting the creation and development of health infrastructure from the Health and Hospitals Fund (HHF), including the Department’s support for the Health Minister and the HHF Advisory Board.

The audit found that the Department has generally established effective administrative processes to support the development of infrastructure funded from the HHF. The Department has also established sound arrangements to support the HHF Advisory Board and has generally provided effective support to the Health Minister, although it has at times adopted a relatively narrow view of its role. Further, the Department’s administrative and support arrangements have improved over time.

The Australian National Audit Office made three recommendations to improve transparency in decision-making and accountability. The Department agreed with the recommendations.

• Administration of the Primary Care Infrastructure Grants Program (Audit Report No.44 of 2011-12, tabled 19 June 2012).

The audit examined the Department’s performance in the establishment, initiation and administration of the Primary Care Infrastructure Grants Program (the Program) against relevant policy and legislative requirements for the expenditure of public money and the key principles contained in the Commonwealth Grants Guidelines (CGGs). In this context, the audit examined whether the Department had established and initiated the Program so that it was fit for the purpose of supporting infrastructure grants initiatives intended to improve access to integrated GP and primary healthcare services; appropriately assessed applications and provided appropriate advice to the Minister in relation to assessment outcomes and related matters; effectively negotiated projects with shortlisted applicants, properly approved grants and promptly executed funding agreements; effectively administered individual grants during the construction phase; established a program evaluation strategy that incorporated a robust key performance indicator (KPI) reporting framework; and incorporated major ‘lessons learned’ from the 2010 funding round and the 2011 round.

The audit found that in establishing the Program, the Department put in place many of the fundamentals for the effective administration of a competitive grants program, as set out in the CGGs. The Department facilitated the development of grant program guidelines within a very compressed timeframe, which were approved by the Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet and made publicly available, as then required by the CGGs. The Australian National Audit Office did however make two recommendations to apply better practice in assessing applications for grants, and to undertake focused evaluation activity to assess program effectiveness. The Department agreed with the recommendations.

• Indigenous Early Childhood Development. New Directions: Mothers and Babies Services (Audit Report No.35 of 2011-12, tabled 29 May 2012).

The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of the Department’s administration of New Directions. In this respect the Australian National Audit Office considered whether: planning processes were developed to support the program’s objectives and rationale; implementation arrangements were clearly defined and aligned to the objectives of the program; and robust performance management arrangements had been established and were in use by the Department.

The audit found that overall, the Department has been effective in establishing and implementing the New Directions: Mothers and Babies Services Program, consistent with the objectives set by Government.

The Australian National Audit Office made one recommendation for the Department to review its performance framework and strengthen measures to monitor service delivery and determine whether use of services is improving in line with the Program’s objectives. The Department agreed with the recommendation.

• The National Blood Authority’s Management of the National Blood Supply (Audit Report No.8 of 2011-12, tabled 21 October 2011).

The audit objective was to assess whether the National Blood Authority’s (NBA) governance and contractual arrangements are effective in securing a national supply of blood products and services. The audit found that the NBA has established organisational structures and processes which largely allow the Agency to carry out its governance responsibilities and made five recommendations. The NBA agreed with the recommendations.

• Therapeutic Goods Regulation: Complementary Medicines (Audit Report No.3 of 2011-12, tabled 30 August 2011).

The audit objective was to examine the effectiveness of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA) administration of complementary medicines regulation in Australia. The primary focus was on listed complementary medicines, which comprise about 98 per cent of these medicines.

The audit found that the administration of the regulatory framework could be strengthened by the TGA making changes to improve the integrity of the Self-assessment process for pre-market listing, using a risk-based approach to better target its post-market reviews, and improving the transparency of information available to consumers, health professionals and industry.

The Australian National Audit Office made five recommendations aimed at strengthening the integrity and transparency of the framework within existing policy settings, in large measure by refining the TGA’s existing systems and processes and better targeting the utilisation of resources. The Department agreed with the recommendations.

Cross Agency Audits where the Department was Involved

• Indigenous Employment in Government Service Delivery (Audit Report No.4 of 2011-12, tabled 31 August 2011).
• Administration of the Gateway Review Process (Audit Report No.22, tabled 7 February 2012).
• Administration of Government Advertising Arrangements: March 2010 to August 2011 (Audit Report No.24, tabled 8 February 2012).
• Capacity Development for Indigenous Service Delivery (Audit Report No.26, tabled 9 February 2012).
• Development and Approval of Grant Program Guidelines (Audit Report No.36, tabled 30 May 2012).

Other Audits where the Department was not Directly Involved but where Recommendations were Targeted at all Agencies

• Development and Implementation of Key Performance Indicators to Support Outcomes and Programs Framework (Audit Report No.5 of 2011-12, tabled 8 September 2011).
• Information and Communications Technology Security: Management of Portable Storage Devices (Audit Report No.18 of 2011-12, tabled 20 December 2011).
• Establishment and Use of Procurement Panels (Audit Report No.31 of 2011-12, tabled 1 May 2012).
• Records Management in the Australian Public Service (Audit Report No.53 of 2011-12, tabled 27 June 2012).

Details of the Auditor-General’s reports, including responses to the recommendations where the Department was involved in the audits, can be found at the Australian National Audit Office website www.anao.gov.au. Other enquiries regarding the reports should be directed to the Assistant Secretary, Audit & Fraud Control, in the Department.

Judicial Decisions and Decisions of Administrative Appeal Tribunal

Judicial decisions and decisions of administrative tribunals that have had, or may have, a significant impact on the operations of the Department. During 2011-12, the Department was involved in:

• 35 matters before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
• 18 matters in the Federal Court of Australia.
• 3 matters (one matter had five applicants) in the Full Federal Court of Australia.
• 3 matters (with ten applicants) in the High Court of Australia.
• 1 matter in the Federal Magistrates Court.
• 1 matter in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory.

Other Parliamentary Scrutiny

The Department appeared before the Senate Committee Affairs Legislation Committee (Senate Estimates) on three occasions during the 2011-12 financial year for a total of seven days:

• Supplementary Budget Estimates – 19 and 21 October 2011.
• Additional Budget Estimates – 15 and 17 February 2012.
• Budget Estimates – 30 and 31 May and 1 June 2012.

The Department also gave evidence and/or made submissions to a number of Parliamentary Committee inquiries as follows.

Senate Community Affairs Committee

Legislation Committee

• Inquiry into Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011 [Provisions].
• Inquiry into Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011 [Provisions].

References Committee

• Inquiry into the factors affecting the supply of health services and medical professionals in rural areas.
• Inquiry into Palliative Care in Australia.
• Inquiry into the role of the government and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regarding medical devices, particularly Poly Implant Prostheses (PIP) breast implants.
• Inquiry into the Commonwealth contribution to former forced adoption policies and practices.
• Inquiry into Commonwealth Funding and Administration of Mental Health Services.
• Inquiry into the Review of the Professional Services Review (PSR) Scheme.
• Inquiry into the effectiveness of special arrangements for the supply of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines to remote area Aboriginal Health Services.

Senate Environment and Communications Committee

Legislation Committee

• Inquiry into the Telecommunications Amendment (Mobile Phone Towers) Bill 2011.

Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee

Legislation Committee

• Inquiry into the Health Insurance (Dental Services) Bill 2012 [No.2].
• Inquiry into the National Health Reform Amendment (Administrator and National Health Funding Body) Bill 2012 [Provisions].
• Inquiry into the National Health Reform Amendment (Independent Hospital Pricing Authority) Bill 2011.

References Committee

• Inquiry into the Government’s administration of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee

Legislation Committee

• Inquiry into the Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Bill 2011 [Provisions].

Standing Committee on Economics

• Inquiry into the Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling – Palm Oil) Bill 2011.

Standing Committee on Education and Employment

• Inquiry into mental health and workforce participation.

Standing Committee on Health and Ageing

• Inquiry into Dementia: Early diagnosis and Intervention.
• Inquiry into Health Issues across international borders.
• Inquiry into Registration Processes and Support for Overseas Trained Doctors.

Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications

• Inquiry into the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Community Consultation) Bill 2011.

Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs

• Inquiry into Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety

• Inquiry into Cyber-safety for Senior Australians.

In addition, the Department had a significant workload of Parliamentary Questions with a combined total of 129 questions received on notice from the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a total of 1,337 from the three Senate Estimates hearings.

Figure 3.2.1: Parliamentary Questions Completed by the Department: 2007-08 to 2011-12

Text version of Figure 3.2.1

Source: Department of Health and Ageing Annual Reports, 2007-08 to 2011-12.

Commonwealth Ombudsman

Anyone with concerns about the Department’s actions or decision-making is entitled to make a complaint with the Commonwealth Ombudsman, to determine whether the Department was wrong, unjust, discriminatory or unfair. Further information on the role of the Commonwealth Ombudsman can be obtained from the website www.ombudsman.gov.au.

During 2011-12, the Commonwealth Ombudsman investigated 37 complaints against the Department’s administrative practices, 7 of which had carried over from 2010-11. Of the 30 new complaints investigations commenced in 2011-12, 12 remain open as at 30 June 2012.

Freedom of Information

Agencies subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) are required to publish information to the public as part of the Information Publication Scheme (IPS). This requirement is in Part II of the FOI Act and has replaced the former requirement to publish a section 8 statement in an annual report. Each agency must display on its website a plan showing what information it publishes in accordance with the IPS requirements. Such information can be found at http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/foi-doha-pub-scheme-agency-plan. The Freedom of Information Disclosure Log that lists documents disclosed in response to FOI requests can be found at http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/foi-disc-log.

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